Dashing to victory

Dale Mollenhauer finished a see-saw game with a crazy play in the bottom of the ninth as the Winston-Salem Dash defeated the Frederick Keys 5-4 last night at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

The crowd of 1,643 saw Mollenhauer score all the way from second on a grounder to first by Seth Loman to give the Dash its second win in a row after losing the three previous games.

Mollenhauer led off the ninth with single that ate up Pedro Florimon at short. Brent Morel started his at-bat trying to bunt Mollenhauer over, but after two pitches from Brandon Cooney, Manager Joe McEwing elected to have Morel fake a bunt and swing away. Morel popped to shallow center and Mollenhauer raced back to first. Loman then hit a grounder that bounded high toward Robbie Widlansky at first. Widlansky threw to Cooney, who is 6-6 and 261 pounds, to get Morel, but Mollenhauer ran through a stop sign from McEwing and slid under the tag from Caleb Joseph at the plate to score the winning run.

The rest of the Dash players rushed Mollenhauer after he scored. Mollenhauer said he didn't decide to run home from second until he saw the high hop. "I saw it take a higher hop, and I just decided to go," he said. "I don't think (Widlansky) had the ball when I was at third, so I just took a chance on it."

Mollenhauer said that kind of play can't be envisioned. "That was instinctive, but there's been plenty of times this year where we scored from second on a ball to the first-base side or something like that. So it's just one of those things where we've done during the year, and it came handy today, too."

McEwing said Mollenhauer ran through a stop sign, but was pleased with his decision. "You've got to give all the credit to Mollenhauer. That was all on him," McEwing said. "I told him not to go, and he just had his head down and kept going. I said, ‘Watch the throw, watch the throw,' It's a heads-up baseball play on his part because the first baseman was deep in the hole, and with the pitcher covering he just kept going."

McEwing said plays like that help win championships, just as the Dash did in winning first half of the Southern Division in the Carolina League. The Dash is currently winning the second half by three games over Myrtle Beach.

"That's winning baseball. When you have guys who get after it and never stop playing hard, it's just a testament to what they're doing. They're doing an outstanding job and I couldn't be happier for them."

Charlis Burdie, who was just called up from Low-A Kannapolis on Aug. 1, picked up his first Carolina League win after pitching the final 12/3 innings. Justin Edwards got a no-decision after pitching 71/3 innings, and gave up four runs on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout.

The Dash took a 1-0 lead in the second off starter Nate Nery. Greg Paiml reached first after the Keys failed to complete a double play. Paiml grounded to third, and third baseman Brandon Waring threw to second to get John Curtis at second. But second baseman Ryan Adams threw the ball past Widlansky, allowing Paiml to reach. C.J Lang then lined a double down the left-field line and Paiml raced home.

The Dash tacked on a run in the third for a 2-0 lead. Justin Greene led off with a hard liner up the middle that nearly hit Nery in the head. Nery put up his glove just over his left shoulder, and the ball bounced toward Adams. Adams picked up the ball and threw to first, but Greene beat the throw. Nery wasn't injured on the play. Greene then moved to second on a sacrifice by Mollenhauer. Morel then lined it down the left-field line to easily score Greene.

The Keys finally got to starter Edwards in the fourth. Florimon led off with an infield single and scored after Waring doubled to right center to trim the lead to 2-1. Waring then moved to third on a fielder's choice. With one out, Widlansky grounded to Loman at first, but Loman dove toward the ball but couldn't handle it, allowing Windlansky to reach on an infield single. Waring scored on the play to tie the game 2-2.

Frederick loaded the bases in the fifth. With one out, Matt Tucker reached on an error by Mollenhauer at second. David Cash then grounded to Morel at third, but the ball rolled under his legs for an error. With runners on first and second, Matt Angle's walk loaded the bases. Florimon grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The Keys took their first lead of the game after Caleb Joseph crushed a home run high and deep over the left-field wall off Edwards for a 3-2 lead.

The Dash came right back in the bottom of the sixth. Sanchez led off with a line-drive homer over the eight-foot wall in left field to tie the game at 3-3. The rally continued when Paiml singled to center with one out and moved to second on a balk by Nery with Lang batting.

Lang later reached on a walk, and Tyler Kuhn lined a single to center to knock in Paiml for a 4-3 lead. With Greene batting, both Lang and Kuhn stole second, but Greene struck out for the second out. Mollenhauer flied to left to end the threat.

The lead vanished quickly. With one out in the seventh, Tucker hit a homer on the first pitch from Edwards over the left field wall to knot the score at 4-4.

The Dash has had a big turnover to its roster since the end of the first half. It's taken a little while for the team to gel, but McEwing said it's coming around.

Winston-Salem will close its seven-game homestand tonight at 5 p.m. Right-hander Gregory Infante (1-1, 8.00 ERA) is set to start for the Dash vs. Keys right-hander Kenny Moreland (2-0, 3.14) .

FRED. ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi

Angle cf 3 0 0 0 Kuhn lf 5 0 1 1

Flrmn ss 4 1 1 0 Greene cf 4 1 1 0

Waring 3b 4 1 3 1 Mllnhr 2b 4 1 1 0

Joseph c 4 1 1 1 Morel 3b 5 0 3 1

Wdlnsky 1b 4 0 2 1 Loman 1b 5 0 0 1

Henson lf 4 0 0 0 Sanchez rf 4 1 3 1

Adams 2b 4 0 1 0 Curtis c 4 0 0 0

Tucker dh 4 1 1 1 Paiml ss 4 2 3 0

Cash rf 4 0 0 0 Lang dh 2 0 1 1

Totals 35 4 9 4 Totals 37 5 13 5

Frederick 000 201 100 -- 4
Winston-Salem 011 002 001 -- 5

E--Waring, Adams, Florimon, Mollenhauer, Morel. DP--Frederick 1, Winston-Salem 3. LOB--Frederick 5, Winston-Salem 10. 2B--Waring, Lang, Morel. HR--Joseph, Tucker, Sanchez. SB--Kuhn, Mollenhauer, Sanchez, Lang. CS--Morel.

Frederick IP H R ER BB SO

Nery 51/3 9 4 4 2 2

Esposito 12/3 2 0 0 0 2

Cooney, L (0-1) 12/3 2 1 1 0 3

Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO

Edwards 71/3 8 4 4 1 2

Burdie, W (1-0) 12/3 1 0 0 0 3

WP--Nery, Burdie. BK--Nery. T--2:31. A--1,643.